Newt Gingrich: GOP must be willing to 'make ... friends very uncomfortable'

Newt Gingrich sounded like a general election candidate — at least for a moment — in Iowa Thursday night, telling a dinner in Polk County that he wants to run "an American campaign, not a Republican campaign" for the presidency.

Gingrich didn't hold off on the red meat in addressing the county GOP event, tearing into "anti-religious judges" and anti-American "bias built into the academic community." He blasted the president as a "Saul Alinsky radical" and said liberals "try to avoid reality."

But Gingrich also told the crowd here that conservatives must be prepared to anger members of their own camp in order to do the right thing for the country. The former House speaker — who has drawn fire for his view on immigration — made an explicit call for inclusiveness in the Republican Party.

“We need an American campaign, not a Republican campaign. And we need to be open to every person of every background," Gingrich said.

He continued: "That’s going to make some of our friends very uncomfortable. But I think if we truly want to rebuild America, we have to be willing to make some of our friends very uncomfortable.”

Gingrich didn't couch the statement in terms of immigration, or indeed any specific issue or demographic group. The point seemed clear, though: Gingrich might be the conservative darling of the moment, but that doesn't mean he wants to campaign like, say, Herman Cain — a candidate beloved by the right but who never convinced his own party he could really be elected president.

And in closing, Gingrich did mention immigration, saying the GOP would have to show boldness in addressing “immigration, in national security, in job creation, in every aspect of American life, to rebuild this extraordinary country."

The Republican also predicted that the economy would begin to turn around literally the moment President Barack Obama is defeated, even without new policies being implemented first.

“The economic recovery will begin late on election night, when the country realizes that Barack Obama’s going back to Chicago and that the Republicans have won control of the Senate," he said. "Literally that evening, investment decisions, job creation decisions, company launching decisions will be changing in the light of what’s going on."

Why should Herman Cain be beat down for adultery and sexual harrassment when Newt Gingrich is exactly the same thing but with the nerve to comit adultery while impeaching Clinton?

But it is not Newt's character flaws that is the real problem. It is his confusing policies and willingness to stoop to any level to make a million bucks and sell his 41 years of inside politics to the highest bidder.

“We need an American campaign, not a Republican campaign. And we need to be open to every person of every background," Gingrich said.

He's a Schizoid fella. Just earlier this evening he remarked that poor people have no role models and gravitate toward illegal lifestyles. Way to be inclusive and "open to every person of every background".

Newt Gingrich should be the candidate being labeled as the Flip-Flopper as he has changed his positions back and forth, where Mitt Romney's positions have evolved, but not flip-flopped.

Newt Gingrich is just a Republican version on Barrack Obama complete with the arrogance and the attitude where the talk down to everyone that the meet. They both believe that they are the smartest people in the room, but fail to notice that they are usually the biggest fools in the room.

We need a President who can bring together the majority of the population and focus on the financial nightmare that we are currently in. We don't need to focus on the social issues and we really need to reduce the of government and governmental spending.

Although Newt Gingrich would be better than Barrack Obama, he would not be a good choice. There are several better choices still running.

With its changing favorites, the Republican base is making its priorities clear. It wants someone who will say harsh things about President Obama. They want it to be loud, forceful, constant. Whether a candidate is honest, ethical, intelligent, experienced, or informed is optional. But being AGAINST everything Democrats and Obama favor is mandatory.

Given that Obama has actually governed pretty much down the center on issue after issue, you have to wonder what kind of strategy this is.

Gingrich didn't hold off on the red meat in addressing the county GOP event, tearing into "anti-religious judges" and anti-American "bias built into the academic community." He blasted the president as a "Saul Alinsky radical" and said liberals "try to avoid reality."

newt is going to hang Obama's past anti-American buddies along with his new froiends in the neo-com movement aroung his neck like a millstone.